Monday, December 12, 2011

The Next Frontier

Michael Jinkins
President and Professor of Theology

Stated Meeting of the Mid-Kentucky Presbytery
November 14, 2011
Luke 4:14-20; 10:1-2

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

President Michael Jinkins addresses the question of clergy shortage and invites us to reflect on our “loss of confidence in the church regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ and to identify our loss of confidence in the church for what it is. …Do we still have confidence in the power of God to seek and to save, to liberate, and to raise from death to new life?” Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

The Resources and Challenges for Constructing a Hindu Theology of Liberation

Anant Rambachan
Professor of Religion, St. Olaf College


October 20, 2011
Edwards Lecture

Rambachan has been involved in the field of interreligious relations and dialogue for more than twenty-five years, as a Hindu participant and analyst.  Listen to the lecture.

Friday, December 9, 2011

The Hospitality of Receiving: Rethinking Mission and Conversion in an Interreligious Age

John Thatamanil
Associate Professor of Theology and World Religions, Union Theological Seminary (New York)

Presler Lecture

October 20, 2011

Thatamanil believes that “tying together diverse interests is a basic commitment to a deeply metaphysical form of philosophical theology which he takes to be essential for any Christian theology that seeks to be in conversation with non-Christian religious traditions.” Listen to the lecture.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Building a Culture of Hope

Doug Gragg

Professor of Bibliography and Research; Director of Library and Information Technology Services; Officer of Institutional Effectiveness

September 30, 2011
1 Peter 3:15b

Life can sometimes be hell on earth because of the suffering we cause one another. Social conflicts can feel so intractable that we lose all hope of addressing them effectively and surrender to passive resignation. Building a culture of hope requires recalling the small victories over hell on earth that have occurred when imaginative people have enabled us to think differently about each other and to embrace our differences. Every time we enlarge our circles to include a wider range of difference, we push back the gates of hell on earth a little farther than they were before.   Read the sermon in PDF.

Monday, October 31, 2011

A Prayer to Begin With--Psalm 51

David C. Hester

Dean of the Seminary, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Harrison Ray Anderson Professor of Pastoral Theology

September 9, 2011

Psalm 51:1-19

There are snakes in every Garden of Eden. Things don’t always go well; people don’t always get along; words are not always kind and nurturing; and differences in color, culture, sexual orientation, church traditions, beliefs and world views are not always so warmly embraced by we who don’t always see eye to eye. Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Then Dawns the Bright Day--Philippians

Susan R. Garrett
Professor of New Testament Studies

October 21, 2001
Phil 1:3-5; Phil 1:29-30; Phil 4:2-3; Phil 2:6-7

When we idealize Christian community we place our own dreams above the reality created by God. We make idols of our dreams about what Christian community should be like, of our dreams of what Christians should be like.  Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Search for Meaning

Michael Jinkins
President and Professor of Theology

October 14, 2011
Ephesians 2:1-10

What is our chief end? What is our highest and best end? To glorify God and enjoy God forever.  This is surely one of the high points of Christian theology. But what does it mean, really? President Michael Jinkins addresses this deepest of big questions in his chapel sermon for the Seminary community and campus guests exploring a call to ministry.
Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

A Sermon on Genesis 4:2b-9

Steve Cook
Visiting Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible

September 23, 2011
Genesis 4:2b-9

The Friday service of Word and Sacrament featured a sermon on Genesis 4:2b-9.  Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

Monday, October 10, 2011

A Word Fitly Spoken

Amy Plantinga Pauw
Henry P. Mobley Jr. Professor of Doctrinal Theology

September 16, 2011
Proverbs 25:11-20
Proverbs 8:22-31

Any fool can spout proverbs, but only a wise person knows how to draw on the great treasury of human words to find the one that is fitly spoken on a given occasion. Wise persons are discerning in what to say and when to say it.  Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Hell on Earth

Lewis O. Brogdon
Assistant Professor of Black Church Studies
Director of the Black Church Studies Program

Fall Convocation
September 8, 2011
Luke 16:19-25

In the story of the rich man and the poor man named Lazarus, we are introduced to Luke’s critique of riches and his belief in hell as the final abode of the unrighteous in the afterlife. However, Dr. Lewis Brogdon brings this story to contemporary application, asking, “What would happen if the focus of this text shifted from the terrifying image of hell in the afterlife to the image of hell in this life?” Brogdon makes the case that an eschatological image of hell on earth gives the church new language to reflect theologically on human suffering, despair, and the modern crisis of nihilism, particularly in African American communities, in America.  Listen to the lecture.  Read the lecture in PDF.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Looking Back

Barbara Wheeler

Former President of Auburn Theological Seminary
Head of the Center for the Study of Theological Education

Presidential Inauguration
April 14, 2011
What does it take to be numbered among the great seminary presidents? Read the address in PDF.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Prayer

Dean K. Thompson

President Emeritus and Professor of Ministry Emeritus

Presidential Inauguration
April 15, 2011

Prayer offered on the Occasion of the Inauguration and Installation of The Rev. Dr. Michael Jinkins as Ninth President of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Read the prayer.

Charge to the Community

W. Eugene March
A.B. Rhodes Professor Emeritus of Old Testament

Presidential Inauguration
April 15, 2011

The charge to the Community at the Inauguration and Installation of The Rev. Dr. Michael Jinkins as Ninth President of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Read the charge.

Grace and Gratitude

Craig Dykstra

Senior Vice President, Religion
Lilly Endowment Inc.

Presidential Inauguration
April 15, 2011

The charge to the President at the Inauguration and Installation of The Rev. Dr. Michael Jinkins as Ninth President of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Read the charge.

Transforming the Mind in the Service of God: A Case for Theological Education

Michael Jinkins

President of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Presidential Inauguration
April 15, 2011

We are living in an exceptional historical moment, at least for Protestant Christianity, an “axial” moment. Theological schools are right in the middle of this axial moment, because the church is right in the middle of this moment. Most, if not all, of the issues that challenge the church also challenge the seminary. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

The Devil’s Advocate

Scott Black Johnston

Pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City

Presidential Inauguration
April 14, 2011
Romans 12:1-10

Could it be that the health of the church depends on us being Devil’s Advocates to each other?

Could it be that when we engage each other with such a fierce love for the truth, we are really on the side of the angels? Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Christianity and the Ways of Being Religious


Winner of the 2011 Grawemeyer Award in Religion
Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University

Grawemeyer Lecture
April 12, 2011

Ancient Christians had more in common with their Jewish and pagan neighbors than most people realize. Listen to the lecture

The Point of Exegesis is Exegeting Life

Luke Timothy Johnson

Winner of the 2011 Grawemeyer Award in Religion
Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University

Classroom presentation
April 12, 2011

If we approach the New Testament books the way they approach us we must consider four separate yet distinct elements: the anthropological, the historical, the literary, and the religious. Failure to consider even one diminishes understanding of the message of the New Testament. Listen to the presentation.

Monday, May 23, 2011

The Faith of Thomas

Professor of Historical Theology

April 29, 2011
John 20:19-31

Christ is risen! But, even after Easter, there’s still bad news and the world may not feel redeemed. How do we respond, genuinely and faithfully, to tragic events that shake us to the core? Perhaps we can learn something from the exemplary faith of Thomas ….Listen to the sermon.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Romans 12: 1-8

David Snardon

Student Body President
Pastor, Joshua Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church

May 12, 2011
Romans 12: 1-8

Before being ecumenical was popular Paul was trying to bring everybody together. This was a difficult task and yet Paul believed that diversity is good, but unity in Jesus is so much better. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Want Renewal? Recognize, Reorganize, Reform!

Angela R. Cowser

PhD Candidate, Vanderbilt University
Associate Pastor of Multi-Cultural Ministries, Eastminster Presbyterian Church

Festival of Theology
May 4, 2011
Nehemiah 1:10,11

Listen to the sermon.

Monday, May 9, 2011

21st Century Black Churches: Deferred Dreams or Prophetic Possibilities?

Theresa Fry Brown

Professor of Homiletics, Candler School of Theology
Director of Black Church Studies, Emory University

Festival of Theology
May 3, 2011

Listen to the lecture.

The Danger of Incomplete Transformation

Brad R. Braxton

Distinguished Visiting Scholar, McCormick Theological Seminary

Festival of Theology
May 3, 2011
Luke 11:24-26

Listen to the sermon.

Dope Dealers or Pulpit Prophets: A Closer Look at Contemporary Black Preachers


Distinguished Visiting Scholar, McCormick Theological Seminary

Festival of Theology
May 2, 2011

Listen to the lecture.

On-the-Job Courage

Theresa Fry Brown

Professor of Homiletics, Candler School of Theology
Director of Black Church Studies, Emory University

Festival of Theology
May 2, 2011
2 Samuel 23:20-23

Listen to the sermon.

When God Makes Things Worse: The Challenge of Faith in Tough Times

Lewis Brogdon

Director, Black Church Studies Program

Festival of Theology
May 1, 2011

This sermon explores how and why God makes things worse both for the children of Israel in Egypt and for the church today. In particular, the sermon challenges the church to draw upon the resources of faith to re-imagine our world and envision new ways to living together. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Live in the Council of God

Debra J. Mumford

Frank H. Caldwell Associate Professor of Homiletics

April 8, 2011
Jeremiah 23:21,22

In this sermon, Debra encourages the LPTS community to live in the council of God. Living in the council of God does not mean that we have to constantly be in prayer and meditation (though prayer and meditation are good). Living in the council of God means living in constant awareness of what God is doing in our lives and in the world.  Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Joel 2:1-2,12-17

Steve Cook

Adjunct Professor of Hebrew Bible

March 11, 2001
Joel 2:1-2,12-17

A sermon on Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 for the first Friday in Lent 2011. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

A Letter to My Son about Beginning Seminary

President and Professor of Theology

March 3, 2011

President Jinkin’s sermon is a letter he wrote his son, Jeremy, not long after Jeremy discerned a call to ordained ministry. The letter explores what it means to begin seminary. This sermon addresses us wherever we are as we seek to follow Christ in trust and obedience, in the name of the Creator, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Look Harder!!!


Dean of Students

Feb 25, 2011

Drawing parallels between the movie “The Lion King” and the condition of blacks in America, Gray demonstrates how the black church is the Rafiki to black peoples’ Simba. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

We Have a Strong City

Part-time Director of the Women’s Center at LPTS

Feb 18, 2011

In a week of worship focused on the theme of violence against women, the text of Isaiah 26:1-13 challenges the people of God to remember that faithful response takes the shape of trusting, and working for, the transformation of suffering in the direction of joy, responding to God's promised redemption by longing and laboring to make it more concretely imaginable. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Two Cheers for Denominationalism!


Henry P. Mobley Professor of Doctrinal Theology

Feb 10, 2011
Spring Convocation

No one is likely to confuse Protestant denominationalism with God’s good and perfect will for the church. Denomination is a provisional structure of Christian existence that has taken diverse forms across space and time. It is currently experiencing many strains and fissures, and may evolve in new ways or even disappear altogether. For denominational churches, this radical contingency is part of their identity. My aim in this address is not to propose strategies for turning denominational fortunes around, but rather to suggest theological reasons why Protestants should not give up on denominationalism just yet. These reasons come in part from reflections on the church by some contemporary Roman Catholic theologians, including Nancy Dallavalle, Roger Haight, Brad Hinze, Paul Lakeland, Gerard Mannion, and Paul Murray. I argue that movements like comparative ecclesiology, inductive ecclesiology, and receptive ecumenism reflect theological views of the church that are consonant with denominational self-understandings and encourage a more appreciative perspective on denominationalism. Now that denominational churches have fallen on harder times, they have the opportunity to live into their distinctive theological self-understanding: a self-relativizing view of their place in the church universal, a realism about their own imperfections, and an acknowledgement of the need to receive wisdom from others, both inside and outside the church. Listen to the sermon.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

God's Longing

Frances S. Adeney
William A. Benfield, Jr. Professor of Evangelism and Global Mission

December 3, 2010
Psalm 50

Do we believe God wants to deliver us?  That God will deliver us?  Can we bring our troubles to God in doubt as well as in faith?  Listen to the sermonRead the sermon in PDF.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Fencing the Table, Dealing with Differences


Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees, and Professor of Ministry

November, 19, 2010

People who are different, such as those with challenging sexualities or even those who differ from us socially or theologically can be thought of as inconvenient visitors, which is a theme of the parable of the “Neighbor at Midnight” from Luke 11:5-13. The parable can be interpreted as a clash of cultural or moral codes and it could be seen as a story of God’s never-failing love for all people, even those who knock on our doors at midnight. The parable could be seen as a critique of “fencing the table,” a practice of insuring that those who participate in the Eucharist are doing so worthily, is used as a metaphor for the community’s approach to inconvenient visitors. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Psalm 130

Patricia K. Tull

A. B. Rhodes Professor Emerita of Old Testament

November 12, 2010
Psalm 130

Lament psalms help us to tell the truth about this world of wounds. Psalm 130 expresses expectancy, trust that God sees the chasm between what is and what ought to be, and is at work to transform this world of wounds into a garden of redemption. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Genesis 16


Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling

October 15, 2010—Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Domestic violence and God’s good intention for creation have lived in tragic tension for centuries. In the first family we are reminded that in a fit of jealousy and rage, Cain killed his own brother Abel. Domestic violence is a sin that separates and isolates victims from sources of value and meaning in God’s good creation. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Monday, January 10, 2011

A Rich Feast for All Peoples


Henry P. Mobley Professor of Doctrinal Theology

October 8, 2010—World Communion Service
Isaiah 25:1-10

Isaiah’s vision of a rich feast for all peoples reminds us that World Communion is never just about ourselves as Christians. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.